Plymouth Argyle's 1-1 draw with Rochdale was by no means a bad a result, but after getting off to such a good start, the Pilgrims quickly went into their shell and were forced to settle for a point as Rochdale responded, equalised and claimed a 1-1 draw at Home Park.

The draw did not take Argyle off the bottom of the table, but it did help to reduce the gap on those teams above them, so we take a look at the three positives and three negatives to take from Saturday’s draw, starting with the three downs...

Lack of goals

Incredibly, Joel Grant’s goal inside the first 45 seconds was the first they have managed in the first half at Home Park this season.

But therein perhaps lies Argyle’s biggest problem – they are just not scoring enough goals.

In 16 League One games so far this campaign, Argyle have scored only 12 goals which, along with Gillingham, is the second-worst in the entire division.

Only AFC Wimbledon have scored fewer (nine) and if Argyle are to get out of trouble, then they need to start taking more of the chances they are creating.

Only once – Charlton at home – have Argyle scored more than once this season, although they did manage it against Chelsea’s Under 23 and a vastly under-strength Exeter side in the Checkatrade Trophy, both games Argyle won after 2-2 draws.

Plymouth Argyle's home fans have little to cheer about during the Sky Bet League 1 match between Plymouth Argyle and Fleetwood Town on Saturday 7th October 2017 at Home Park, Plymouth, Devon - Photo: Dave Rowntree/PPAUK

The wait goes on

It is still only one home win for Argyle so far this season; that coming in their first home game of the season when they dispatched Charlton Athletic 2-0 at Home Park.

Argyle have played eight home and eight away games now and are a point better off on their travels, where they have won once and drawn three of eight games, compared to one win and two draws at Home Park.

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Charlton have since gone on to have a good season under Karl Robinson and sit fourth in the League One table, while draws against Shrewsbury Town and Blackburn Rovers have shown Argyle can compete with the better teams in the division.

However, they need to win games if they are to get out of trouble and against a Rochdale team six points ahead of them in the standings, it was a missed chance to close the gap and drag a rival into that relegation dogfight.

Derek Adams during the League One match between Plymouth Argyle and Shrewsbury Town on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at Home Park (Image: Dave Rowntree/PPAUK)

Negative tactics

It has been mentioned by so many members of the Green Army that it would be churlish to ignore, but did Argyle pay the price for sitting on a one-goal lead against Dale?

Some have said that Rochdale had to come out at Argyle and take the game to them after conceding that early goal, but Argyle certainly sat deep and invited the visitors onto them.

Derek Adams also felt that it was more down to Rochdale taking the game to the Pilgrims, rather than Argyle playing to instructions, and that it was his side that did it to Rochdale in the second half.

Either way, it certainly led to a feeling of frustration at full-time that Argyle had wasted a good opportunity to get some much needed points on the board. Especially after they made such a good start.

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Joel Grant celebrates his early goal for Argyle against Rochdale (Image: Phil Mingo)

Joel’s goals

It is two in two for the former Exeter City winger, who is at last starting to show what he is capable of after a somewhat ineffective start to life as a Green.

But at Wimbledon last week, Grant was the match-winner, scoring with a fine shot that went in off the crossbar from Graham Carey’s cute through-ball, while it was the same combo that were at it again on Saturday with Carey providing the inch-perfect cross for Grant to head home.

Argyle still need more from Grant, who faded as the game wore on, although he did have a good chance to score a second goal, only to be foiled by Josh Lillis. But those goals are sure to have done wonders for his confidence.

The bottom of the League One table

Closing the gap

Argyle went into Saturday’s game five points adrift of the League One safety zone, but their draw against Rochdale sis at least close that to four points, after results elsewhere largely went in their favour.

It is still way too early in the season to be looking too closely at league tables, but what Argyle don’t want is to get cast too far adrift at the foot of the table, so a point on Saturday at least closed that gap a little.

Gillingham’s shock win at Rotherham saw them move up the standings, while Bury find themselves just one place and one point above Argyle now, after they lost a big game at local rivals and fellow strugglers Oldham Athletic.

Also in the bottom four now are Northampton Town. Jimmy Flloyd Hasselbaink’s Cobblers come to Home Park on Tuesday, November 21.

Yann Songo'o had another fine game for Argyle in the 1-1 draw with Rochdale (Image: Phil Mingo)

Super Songo’o

When Argyle began their League One campaign, there would have been very few that would have had the name of Yann Songo’o in their preferred starting line-up.

But the Cameroon international has certainly grasped his opportunity and is arguably one of the first names on Derek Adams’ team sheet now.

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Songo’o really came to prominence with his outstanding performance in the narrow 1-0 defeat at Wigan, but since then, he has continued to be one of the Pilgrims’ stand-out players, either at centre half or as a defensive midfielder.

In a season of largely disappointments for Argyle and the Green Army, the form of Songo’o has at least given them something to cheer with his guts, determination and wholehearted attitude seeing him become a firm favourite with the Home Park crowd.